Argentina’s Lionel Messi makes World Cup history at AT&T Stadium
Lionel Messi came into Monday's game with a chance at history. With one goal the Argentinian would become the Men’s FIFA World Cup’s all-time leading goalscorer, breaking his tie with Germany’s Miroslav Klose.
That’s exactly what Messi did, scoring in the 38th minute and sending AT&T Stadium into a frenzy. Messi’s goal came off a pass from Facundo Medina, who was on the left wing and found Messi in the box. Messi did the rest, smashing the ball into the goal.
The goal gave Argentina a 1-0 lead over Austria which they would carry into halftime, and they would go on to win the game by the score of 2-0.
While Messi made his history before halftime, his historic goal could’ve come earlier as he missed several chances early in the match.
Messi first chance to set the record came eight minutes into the game after a penalty on Austria gave Argentina a penalty kick.
AT&T Stadium buzzed with fans anticipating history, however Messi faltered, missing the kick wide right and becoming the first player in the 2026 FIFA World Cup to miss a penalty.
Messi became the first men’s player in 60 years to miss a penalty in three straight World Cups, it was his third miss in seven penalty shot attempts over his World Cup career.
Messi got his next chance in the 18th minute when he drove into the box. But after passing up a shot attempt and attempting another touch, he had the ball poked away by a defender from behind.
Pro Basketball Hall of Famer Manu Ginobili was in attendance and represented many Argentina fans who cringed after the missed opportunity.
Messi saw his next chance come in the 31st minute after the ball ricocheted toward him, but his shot was blocked by an Austrian defender with goalie Alexander Schlager out of position.
Messi had more opportunities to score in the second half, including on shot that went wide right and deflected off Schlager’s hand, though Argentina was not awarded a corner kick on sequence. He ended the game with seven shots and four on goal in his team’s victory.
Messi added one more goal in the game’s waning moments as Austria pressed looking for an equalizer, but after Julián Alvarez missed following a pass from Messi, the forward came in to clean up. After his initial shot was blocked, he followed up for his second goal of the game and his fifth of this World Cup.
This goal made more history as Messi passed Brazil’s Marta for the most goals scored in World Cup history regardless of gender.
Messi came close to making it a hat trick, but his free kick from 30 yards out went wide left right before the match’s conclusion.
After the game, Messi was named the superior player of the match for his performance.
This story was originally published June 22, 2026 at 1:03 PM.
